Now that the dust has settled and that I am now in a safe position oncemore, I feel able to explain what has happened to me over the last few weeks.
So I quit my job. Left. Hit the road. Moved on.
I considered it imprudent to remain in my former employ for numerious reasons, and I scented this might happen some time ago; so I had to have a plan B. I will not publish what my plan B is, just yet, but in a few weeks time.
Anyway, here’s my account of what happened.
So in early November I got into a really bad situation through no fault of my own and was faced with having to get a new (legal) job. Unfortunately there were very few options available to me at the time, either to go with this one company or to go home. Simple as that.
So I chose the former, and to be honest, I have been regretting that decision for the last three months.
The company whom I was working for is called
Jilin Star International Education Institution
(四达国际教育) or chang chun si da .
As I posted before, they are legally allowed to hire foreigners and have about 30 ‘foreign’ teachers on their books.
The company has foreign managers to add an air of legitimacy for those teachers who are new to China.
Star Education has many other interests besides Foreign Teachers, it works with getting people into foreign universites – especially in New Zealand and Australia.
Don’t be fooled by the friendly foreign faces, the company is Chinese and run by Chinese people and so still operates in a very cut-throat screw you way.
Of course, they are very friendly and nice to you in person and on an individual basis i’m sure they are nice people. But as with many of my experinces here, when money (i.e salary) comes into the equation they become like a different animal, hiding behind the ‘companies interests’ .
Despite the name, this is a recruiting and farming out agency and has no school of it’s own. The company operates by placing foreign teachers into various (and mostly) government run schools; primary and middle schools that don’t have the capacity to get foreign teachers themselves.
The company makes money by getting foreigners to work for say 20 hours per week and paying the employee per the MINUTES you have in the classroom. So the company gets 150 yuan per class, and pays the teacher 62 yuan per hour. 5000 yuan/ 80 hours a month (20p/w) = 62 RMB.
So 20hours a week is more like 30hours when you factor in that most periods are 40-45minutes per class. Not to mention the amount of UNPAID travelling between classes at different locations – it soon adds up.
For example, you may have class from 8-9.30 and from 10-11.30 in the morning. Two classes, the whole morning gone – you will only get paid for 3 hours work, then you may (like me) have another two hours of class from 2-4 in the afternoon.
So come the end of the day you woke up before 7, and get home after 5 and you only get paid for 5 hours work. This makes you feel as if you are being cheated (And I am not the only one, many of the other teachers at Star also feel this way)
Remeber though that you work for the company, not the school, so you will have to work in different locations often more than one location each day. And don’t expect a weekend like the university teachers, 6 days a week is normal.
This is how the companies operate, and the lack of a regular schdule is a total KILLER on the Foreign teachers free time. You will also get phone calls asking you to work at very short notice; tomorrow, or this afternoon – and if you refuse – you’ll get another call from the boss – all very intimidating.
Essentailly you -the Foreign teacher- will be treated like a commodity, you basic rights will be infringed and it will make you very unhappy. Of course the company will not understand your plight, it’s not in their interest to support YOUR interests at the detriment of what they see as raw PROFIT.
For me that’s the crux of the arguement, Profit and greed on the part of the company. Screw the Foreigner, hire some newbee who doesn’t know, screw him, hire another etc etc etc. High staff turnover, Fast Buck – makes me sick!
So be aware!!!
However I knew this would probably happen before I signed the contract, though I never assumed it could be quite so bad. And I thought I could tough-it-out. I thought wrong.
I could just about put up with the above, but what did it for me was when they started to mess around with my salary. Not being paid my rent money was the catalyst for my leaving the company. Maybe I was looking for an excuse to leave, however It is imperative that I protect my own interests FIRST. Especially in China, as a foreign teacher- I cannot allowed myslef to be messed around oncemore.
I later learned that the reason for Star education wanting to not pay my rent money is that the company has no reserve funds, and so by depriving 30 Teachers of 800 yuan they can save 24000 yuan – that can be used to pay bills/salaries/bosses salaries etc…
Hearing this further reinforces my opinion that I made the right move.
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I also worked for Star. At the end of seven month, they have paid me for four. They made a mistake in my schedule second semester and instead of fixing it, decided to move me to another city. After I got packed up and down to the street, I was told I was not going, making it impossible to get to my classes in that city the next morning. They tried to yank me out of a wonderful school that loves me and move me again so I resigned. Since then, they have not paid me or reimbursed me for my train tickets.
I heard that they never pay teachers the ;ast month’s salary or airfare home.
I appreciate reading this. I am facing the same situation this summer. I give you kudos for keeping quiet. You have yourself to watch out for, and who knows what might happen if you talk with other teachers.
I appreciate reading this. I am facing the same situation this summer. I give you kudos for keeping quiet. You have yourself to watch out for, and who knows what might happen if you talk with other teachers.
Hi. My sister’s working in Changchun. I saw this blog regarding TS and Star. I don’t know what their modus operandi are but thanks to you, i’ll give my sister a warning. God bless. kudos!
Hi David
I’ve just been reading about your job placements in China, specifically with Star International. Sorry to hear that you had such a rough time. I don’t want to belittle the struggle that you had with this company, and you’re probably not the only one who has had problems, but I do just want to level the balance by saying that not everyone who works for Star has experienced these kinds of problems. I started working with Star in October 2006 and continue to work with them now. I enjoy the work and feel that the company has treated me pretty well. I’m paid on time for the work I do, and do not need to move from school to school. I think moving schools is now not as common as it was before. Working 6 days a week now is also pretty uncommon,
It’s a drag that you were asked to pay for your month off. I don’t know if this was an old policy or something, but I’ve never heard of anyone in this company ever having to pay rent, during holidays or term time. Maybe things have changed. In addition, the airfare has been raised to 7,000 yuan. Maybe I’m lucky that things have gone well for me, maybe you were unlucky that things weren’t so good. Either way, I hope you don’t mind me posting this, or think that I’m belittling your experiences, I just wanted to say that it isn’t always this way.
I think you’re extremely lucky. 😀
You are the first person to say anything positive about the company,
I guess you must the exception that proves the rule!
I don’t know if you’ve worked in other schools in China before, because I know that If I hadn’t I perhaps wouldn’t have realised what to expect from my employer. I may even have thought what star was offering me was not so bad…
On the other hand you may be one of Star’s managers…
It’s all a question of ones perception and expectation as to how something is seen.
I have had more than 20 emails from disgruntled (ex) teachers telling me of their problems at Star over the last year or so. So many horror stories.
As long as Peter Guo is still in charge, I still would avoid working for Star at all costs. 👿 👿
Well, I found this a tad too late. You see, I found that Jilin Province Education Exchanges Service Center Changchun Foreign Language Training School is just as bad. Well possibly. We didn’t stay around after they stole our passports under the pretense of paperwork that needed to be done then refused to return them under any circumstances until we called the police.
I thank you for doing this. Keep telling the world. I know I’m going to. I feel sorry for any foreigner that comes here.
Anyone foreign who can say anything positive about teaching in China is full of shit!! Because the laws concerning the health and welfare of the foreigners are not observed.All the foreign teachers are being used and abused, cheated and lied to .
I worked for Changchun University, it left a very bad taste in my mouth. The apartment I lived in is like slum, no airconditioner, no hot water, no round way trip that was promised, no office, was lied to so many times, I have no trust in them anymore.
The individual that praised Star or TS for being so perfect can kiss my ass, how much were you paid or who are you fucking ? I know many people employed by those companies that were cheated, and became illegal working without a visa because their visas were never changed to working visas which caused them to become illegal. And China has no sympathy for this. You are looking to pay 5000 RMB fine and being made to leave the country.
I have a new job at a new college and was able to negotiate better after being screwed by Changchun University and knowing about the laws and policies concerning employing foreign teachers.
The truth is Knowledge is Power.
Anyone foreign who can say anything positive about teaching in China is full of shit!! Because the laws concerning the health and welfare of the foreigners are not observed.All the foreign teachers are being used and abused, cheated and lied to .
I worked for Changchun University, it left a very bad taste in my mouth. The apartment I lived in is like slum, no airconditioner, no hot water, no round way trip that was promised, no office, was lied to so many times, I have no trust in them anymore.
The individual that praised Star or TS for being so perfect can kiss my ass, how much were you paid or who are you fucking ? I know many people employed by those companies that were cheated, and became illegal working without a visa because their visas were never changed to working visas which caused them to become illegal. And China has no sympathy for this. You are looking to pay 5000 RMB fine and being made to leave the country.
I have a new job at a new college and was able to negotiate better after being screwed by Changchun University and knowing about the laws and policies concerning employing foreign teachers.
The truth is Knowledge is Power.
So which schools or agencies are good to work for? I want to go to China but would like a good experience?
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来自:教科文卫专家司 时间:2007/07/16
以下三位外籍教师系违规从安徽原聘单位擅自离岗者，望全国各省、区、市谨慎聘用，知情速报。三名外籍教师基本情况
姓名 国籍 护照号 专家证号 居留有效期
KELLY 加拿大 JM322070 3400地区131号 2007.2.28－2008.2.28
GRAHAM 澳大利亚 M6369270 3400地区122号 2007.1.1－2008.1.1
RUTH 澳大利亚 M6395819 3400地区123号 2007.1.1－2008.1.1
国家外专局 文教司 2007.7.16
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The site is :www.safea.gov.cn
Those three teachers left their teaching jobs, and now China the foreign experts beaurea is looking for them for breaching contract, it could be that they were unhappy where they were and their recruiter could have lied to them until they just walked away from the job, no problem, i can get you new visa and then could not do it. So they are illegal in this country. Possible outcome for this :they can be charged a maximum 5000 RMB…and a breach penalty clause that must be paid before you can leave the country.
DC comment
To be honest it’s difficult to comment when you don’t know the actual circumstances of the case. Sure there are more than the average amount of foreign nutters in China who would find it difficult to hold a regular job anywhere in the world.
There are also more than average amount of bandit employers who make situations so hard, the employee feels compelled to disappear. I totally empathise with people in this kind of situation.
As long as Chinese labour laws are not enforced and visas can be easily obtained, this will continue to happen. If teaching in China ever becomes a professional job, and I mean akin to teaching in a western country, then the checks on employees will have to be far stricter as will the checks on how employers treat their staff.
That I suspect, won’t happen for many years
Sandra,
you can look online Chinese college, another way:www.chinajob.com
but always make sure it is a university or school , not a company, don’t use any company in china, negotiate your own deal directly ,don’t feel shy about the welfare including airfair,basic medical insurance,travel money, at most 16 hours teaching.
We would like to help.
DC comment – Don’t know about this website. Looks like a recruiter to me. Would avoid!
The three teachers:
kelly from Canada visa number:JM322070
GRAHAM from Australia visa :M6369270
RUTH from Australia visa:M6395819
You got trouble 😥
DC Comment-
Obviously they haven’t or you wouldn’t be resorting to putting their details on my blog!
If you had real guanxi you would have these peoples visas ‘can celled’ (its very hard/troublesome to get this done) and when they try to exit the country they would be hit with a fine
Does anyone know current stats of star international education? They offered me a post working in poor areas in partnership with the government social justice initiatives. I’m new to China and Changchun.